TURKEY, NATO, TRUST
Alliance is the key word for the future of NATO. The Alliance is still alive since 1949 after the Cold War and post 9/11. But today's challenges are fundamentally differ from the past. Arab Spring brought unexpected scenarios including the use of chemical weapons. ISIS is another surprising challenge, mobilizing all terrorists in Syria and Iraq. All happening close to Turkey, which joined NATO in 1952. Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), which has always been professional, is serving all capabilities in order to meet alliance standards. But the ruling party is not on the same page. Recent developments in the region kicked of the discussions on the membership of Turkey. The downing of Turkish F-4 in the eastern Mediterranean triggered Article 4 and ended with the strengthening of Turkish Air Defence with Patriot Systems. Non transparent democratization process in the south east of Turkey put TAF in a bad position in terms of self defence. Uludere airstrike based on the intelligence from Turkish National Intelligence Service has been another trap for TAF. The change of the mindset in Turkey is sending a bad signal to NATO Alliance. The relations of the ruling party including the president Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN with the regional actors such as Iran creates question marks. The allegations on the relation of ISISTurkish leading authority poses threat to European security. Paid military service decision taken without TAF consent. This is a capability shortfall for TAF which is leading force in NATO operations like ISAF and KFOR. Corruption is another internal issue which can be an international problem in the future.
Between all these developments, TAF is trying to defend NATO values and keep standards. I think they need help and this is time for Brussels to remind Turkish ruling authority what the trust is!